The Elections Commission (EC) on Sunday granted permission to hold the inaugural meeting required for the formation of "The Democrats" party.
Last month, the main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) saw the exodus of several of its MPs and members to form a new party named The Democrats. The EC received the application to register the party on May 21, and the signatures of 3,560 members who wished to join the party were submitted on June 1.
EC's Vice-President Ismail Habeeb took to Twitter on Sunday to announce that the EC had given the green light for the formation of The Democrats and that the decision had been notified to the party's founder, Henveiru West MP Hassan Latheef.
Although The Democrats have now been granted permission to hold its inaugural meeting, an earlier disagreement among EC members had prevented had hindered the formation of The Democrats. With the clock ticking on the September presidential election, it is imperative for the party to register formally as soon as possible to be able to field its own candidate for the election. At the time, Hassan Latheef accused the delay of being a deliberate attempt to prevent the party from contesting the election.
